Ain’t nothing like the sizzling sound of rockabilly, and BRIAN SETZER always amps it up with his rockin’ style and guitar assault to leave audiences smiling.

Beginning June 1 in Santa Ynez, CA, the iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and three-time Grammy Award-winner will kick off his 2018 “ROCKABILLY RIOT!” Summer Tour. The U.S. dates will hit Sacramento, Napa, Austin, Tulsa, Atlanta, Charleston and Atlantic City, among other markets, before wrapping June 24 in the Boston area at the Lowell Summer Music Series Outdoors (see the full itinerary below). Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, February 16 at 10:00am, local time. View the tour trailer here.

Pre-sale schedule as follows:

Fan Club Presale: Tuesday, February 13 at 10:00am local time through Friday, February 16 at 10:00am local time. Be the first to get tickets by signing up for Brian’s fan club here.

Local Presale: Thursday, February 15th at 10am local through 10pm local

Throughout the tour, expect a killer set list with Stray Cats gems like “Rock This Town,‘” “Rumble In Brighton” and “Stray Cat Strut” plus other electrifying songs like “Let’s Shake” from his latest solo studio album Rockabilly Riot!: All Original. Opening up most evenings will be Miss Mary Ann and the Ragtime Wranglers, from the Netherlands, who recently toured with the Rockabilly Riot last year in Europe.

“When you look up rockabilly in the dictionary there is a picture of Mark Winchester,” notes SETZER. “He grew up slapping the bass and is in a class of his own. The relationship with the drummer and the bass player in rockabilly is very unique. The slap bass is a rhythmic sounding instrument, so the drummer has to be very in time with him in order not to sound sloppy. Noah Levy is a very on-the-beat solid drummer, whereas me, as a guitar player, I push everything while they hold it all in place. And when you’re talking about the great rockabilly piano players, it’s a very short list, and Kevin McKendree is on it. And he also plays guitar incredibly well. We all just complement each other.”

Asked what he’d like to overhear fans saying after a gig, SETZER says: “I would love to hear, ‘You know, that Rockabilly Riot squad has all the energy and great things I like about the original rockabilly sound, yet they’re a modern band making this music sound new.”

In late 2016, SETZER released his live Blu-Ray/CD package, BRIAN SETZER’S ROCKABILLY RIOT: OSAKA ROCKA! – LIVE IN JAPAN, a sizzling rockabilly album from start to finish that highlights the same band. More information on the Blu-Ray/CD can be found here.

U.S. DATES FOR THE “ROCKABILLY RIOT!” 2018 SUMMER TOUR:

DATE

CITY

VENUE

Fri 6/1

Santa Ynez, CA

Chumash Casino

Sat 6/2

Pala, CA

Pala Casino – Starlight Theater

Sun 6/3

Sacramento, CA

Crest Theatre

Wed 6/6

Napa, CA

The Uptown Theatre

Fri 6/8

West Wendover, NV

Peppermill Concert Hall

Sat 6/9

Grand Junction, CO

Las Colonias Amphitheater

Tue 6/12

Austin, TX

Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater

Thu 6/14

Tulsa, OK

Paradise Cove Margaritaville

Fri 6/15

Robinsonville, MS

Gold Strike Casino – Millennium Theatre

Sat 6/16

Peachtree City, GA

Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater

Mon 6/18

Charleston, SC

Charleston Music Hall

Tue 6/19

Virginia Beach, VA

Sandler Center For the Performing Arts

Wed 6/20

Charlottesville, VA

The Paramount Theater

Fri 6/22

Atlantic City, NJ

Tropicana Showroom

Sun 6/24

Lowell, MA

Lowell Summer Music Series Outdoors

More dates to be announced soon!

Above: Brian Setzer

Photo Credit: Suzie Kaplan

About BRIAN SETZER:

Iconic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and 3-time Grammy-award-winner BRIAN SETZER is a “Musician’s Musician” credited with continually taking chances with innovative and daring musical styles. Setzer is widely credited for taking two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, adding his own blend of gunpowder and rockin style, and completely reinventing and single-handedly resurrecting them in the process. Along the way, he has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records and received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award throughout his decorated career as founder/leader of the Stray Cats, his 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra, and as a solo artist. He is consistently cited as one of the world’s greatest living guitarists, and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name. BRIAN appeared in the 1987 film, La Bamba, portraying rockabilly pioneer Eddie Cochran. In 2002, BRIAN earned the privilege of being one of the few musicians to be animated in an episode of “The Simpsons.” That same year, SETZER was personally requested to induct Chet Atkins into the 17th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. SETZER had the honor of being invited in 2006 to perform at the White House for the President of the United States. In 2014, SETZER received the distinct honor of being asked by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to donate a replica of his original 1959 Gretsch 6120 “Stray Cat” guitar, joining an elite collection of iconic treasures at the museum.

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I am a small business owner, freelance writer, and part-time piano instructor in Charlotte, NC. My musical career started at the age of five when I was forced into taking piano lessons. I played flute in the school band and added the guitar as a young teen. There is nothing I would rather do than be at a live show. My first concert was Shaun Cassidy at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo in 1978.
My top five live shows ever are:
1. Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band – Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, NY 1984- They played for 3 ½ hours and it was awesome.
2. Carolina Rebellion- Metrolina Expo Grounds, Charlotte, NC, May, 2011 – The first ever Carolina Rebellion featured over 15 bands with Avenged Sevenfold headlining. Non-stop music for over 12 hours.
3. Chevelle- Food Lion Speed Street, Charlotte, NC, May, 2008 - The first time I ever saw Chevelle live and I was hooked!
4. Skillet with Red- Bojangle’s Coliseum, Charlotte, NC, April, 2010 – Skillet is one of my favorite bands and they totally kick it live.
5. 106.5 The End’s Weenie Roast #9- Verizon Wireless Amiptheater, Charlotte, NC , October, 2003- Featured Staind, Shinedown, Three Days Grace.

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